YOU have to hark back to 1979 to find the last occasion Barry Hills celebrated a 2,000 Guineas triumph.

YOU have to hark back to 1979 to find the last occasion Barry Hills celebrated a 2,000 Guineas triumph.

That was the season American teenager Steve Cauthen was lured across the Atlantic to kick-start a prolific career in the British classics aboard Tap On Wood.

Now, a quarter century later, Hills has arguably his finest chance of landing the Guineas again in the shape of Craven Stakes hero Haafhd.

And the vibes coming out of the trainer's Lambourn establishment are very positive.

According to Angus Gold, racing manager to owner Hamdan Al Maktoum, Haafhd has delighted connections over the past 10 days, including in a gallop on Saturday.

Gold enthused: "We had to be very pleased with the way he won his trial and I know Barry has been pleased since then, as was Richard Hills after riding him in work.

"All things being equal he has to run well in the Guineas because when you reflect on his twoyear-old form we didn't feel he was quite right after he was beaten at Doncaster, while if more use had been made of him in the Dewhurst he would have gone close in that.

"He was bang there with the best of the twoyear-olds in England, and Newmarket was a very encouraging start in a good time."

All the leading fancies stood their ground at the latest acceptance stage for Saturday's showdown on Newmarket's Rowley Mile, including ante-post favourite One Cool Cat, whose trainer Aidan O'Brien has also left in Grand Reward, Newton and Tumblebrutus.

O'Brien has won the classic twice with King Of Kings (1998) and Rock Of Gibraltar (2002) who, like One Cool Cat, ran at Newmarket without the benefit of a prep race.

Dermot Weld says his big hope, Grey Swallow, is in good form but that the Guineas may come "a week too soon" for his recent Leopardstown winner.

Weld said: "We've had problems of different sorts with little coughs and colds in the stable, which has meant many of the horses have been slow coming together.

"But that does not include Grey Swallow, who is complete ly healthy and will run well at Newmarket.

"I've always maintained that he would be a better colt come Irish 2,000 Guineas time and that the Newmarket race would come a week too soon."

Champion j ockey Kieren Fallon will take over from the injured Richard Hughes on Three Valleys in the big race.

The colt was very keen on his first attempt at a mile on his reappearance in the Craven earlier this month and finished second, beaten five lengths by Haafhd.

Godolphin's three entries Snow Ridge, Bayeux and Byron arrived in Newmarket early today from Dubai.